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LGA payments contained in tax bill signed by Governor Dayton

Governor Dayton has signed a small tax bill that contained a provision Representative Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, co-authored regarding local government aid (LGA) payments to the city of Hoffman.

This provision will require the Department of Revenue to pay FY 2011 LGA amounts to the cities that had their payments withheld because the cities did not meet the filing standards and guidelines established by the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) for filing financial reports, provided that each city files all missing documents by May 31, 2012.

Current law required meeting the current reporting requirements in order to receive LGA.

"I am glad the governor signed this bill. This funding is vitally important to these cities. For a variety of reasons these cities were unable to file on-time, and this extension will allow them to receive their funding," said Westrom. "This is good news for the city of Hoffman and I'm thankful the governor was willing to sign this legislation after he first vetoed it in late April."

These cities, like most other Minnesota cities will have their LGA maintained at the 2010 levels. Cities with less than 5,000 in population will receive LGA in 2013 at the 2012 level or what they are certified for in FY 2013, whichever is greater.

Rep. Westrom indicated after talking with the city of Hoffman that, "There apparently was a computer glitch when they filed the required report. Other cities had a variety of reasons, including a tornado disaster affecting one Minnesota town."